A BIRMINGHAM great-grandmother was left shell-shocked by the theft of the tortoise which has been her companion for more than 40 years.

Maureen Claxton, aged 71, awoke on Wednesday to find her garden gate open and the animal – ironically named Traveller – missing.

The pensioner feared the worst for her pet, believed to be aged around 57, because she was a fussy eater and would only feed from her hand.

But this tortoise tale had a happy ending when Traveller was found in a park next to Kingshurst Library, Solihull, on Thursday.

“You can’t imagine how good it feels to have her back,” said Maureen, of nearby Meriden Drive.

“I was so worried she would starve to death.

“She’s quite a character and only takes food from me.”

Maureen, a former Solihull Council home-help who used to run Knowle’s Bentley Heath Cottages for the elderly, bought Traveller from a Birmingham Rag Market stall in 1967 for seven shillings and six pence – around 40p in today’s money.

“She’s feisty and has a mind of her own,” she said, adding that Traveller was aptly-named because she was “always on the move”.

“She’s a part of the family – I never thought I could become so attached to something in a shell, but I am.”

“She stays in the garden in her little house and I had made the garden as tortoise-proof as I could.

“There was a padlock and chain around the gate and spikes on the fence.

“On the morning she disappeared I went straight to her house when I saw the gate was slightly open.

“I don’t know how people could do this sort of thing.

“Traveller is exhausted – she was out in the awful weather and hadn’t eaten for a while, but thankfully it’s a happy outcome.”

Maureen said she was now training Traveller to take food from her four-year-old great grand-daughter, Evangeline Florey.

Have you had a pet for a long time? Email newsdesk@birminghammail.net or call 0121 234 5536.